


I'm Not Scared, Neither Are The Stars

by Spark_Doodles



Category: Story Thieves Series - James Riley
Genre: Angst, Gen, Mild Hurt/Comfort, One Shot, Sanderson family angst, Superheroes, This is set like a year comic-time before Secret Origins, also i don't hate Christian and Catherine at all i promise, also known as the Orion is Rebellious fic, also my OC is in there. you're welcome, basically orion is Sad, that's the whole plot, this is set in the POV of a lonely twelve year old
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-28
Updated: 2020-02-28
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:55:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22936702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spark_Doodles/pseuds/Spark_Doodles
Summary: Last month, Christian Sanderson and Catherine Soon-To-Be-Sanderson got engaged. They're ecstatic. They have all sorts of things planned, from the wedding to the honeymoon to their new apartment. In the non-fictional world. Where they will be living. Without Orion.Whoops! Did they forget to mention that?Title is from Scared of the Dark from Spiderman: Into The Spiderverse.
Relationships: Catherine Sanderson/Christian Sanderson, Orion Sanderson & Christian Sanderson, Orion Sanderson & Original Character
Comments: 5
Kudos: 5





	I'm Not Scared, Neither Are The Stars

Orion ran.

His feet were nearly silent even as they flew over roof after roof. Stomping out his rage would have been wonderfully satisfying, but his four years of training had driven into his head the need to be silent. He settled for clenching his hands into fists and pushing forward until he might’ve been mistaken for a new speedster. 

His legs started to burn. Orion pressed harder, feeling each and every sensation. The quiet  _ smack-smacking _ of his boots, the rustling of his cape, the way his fingers pressed into his palms and how the wind slapped into his face. The smells of the city, difficult to properly identify at this speed but still very much there, and a taste of dirt that had sneaked into his mouth.

He clung to every outer feeling, turning each around and around like a globe in his hands. Anything to ignore his inner thoughts.

His foot caught on loose gravel, and Kid Twilight toppled over a building.

Instantly his grappling gun was in his hands, and a line shooting upwards. His aim was shaky- dang it, he  _ knew _ how to aim while falling, he’d  _ practiced  _ this -but it caught. He swung through streets for a few minutes, letting his feet rest while registering each pull in his arms and strain in his core.

“Mom, look!”   
“It’s Kid Twilight! Quick, hand me my phone!”   
“Where’s the Doc?”   
“I don’t see him!”

Ugh. He had to pull away from the crowds.

Two swings later, Orion found himself panting on top of the Daily Current’s ‘scraper. He tucked his grappling gun back into his belt and squatted down, eyeing the streets below him, then the few buildings nearby.   
No-one followed him.

Good.

Orion leaned against the small railing, his chin atop his elbow, the other hand resting on his belt; just in case. His mouth was dry. And tasted like dirt. He watched the traffic below him and considered spitting on it. To count the seconds or see if he could hit a moving target. For scientific purposes, of course.   
...Fine, he wouldn’t. If anyone found out that Kid Twilight spat on pedestrians, Doc would totally-

No. He was in-costume so he  _ wouldn’t _ think about that.

Squatting for this long after running started to burn, so Orion abandoned his view and sat fully down. The concrete was cold. Thankfully the wind didn’t sting as much, now that he was still, but it was still sharp.

Sharp, though it didn’t mean to be. Like-

_ Seriously? _

He hopped to his feet. He  _ was _ pretty thirsty, honestly, so he scanned the stores below him, looking for… there. “Qwick Fill”. Kid Twilight had interrupted a robbery there maybe four months back, and now he had free slushies for life.

He vaulted onto the railing, pulled out his grappling, gun and-   
-tensed. Someone was watching him.   
_ Woosh. _

Great.

Casually, he slipped the gun back into place, replacing it with throwing stars. The person (Probably just a person. Hopefully just a person.) breathed heavily behind him. Orion pretended not to notice, nodding his head lightly as if he had just paused to think.

They started walking towards him. He waited just a little longer, gauging their steps. They were light but still scuffed against the ground, so they weren’t purposefully quiet. Not a ninja or a giant, thank God. He wasn’t in the mood.    
They walked too slow to be a speedster, meaning the  _ whoosh  _ must’ve been from a flight. And their breathing wasn’t muffled by a mask, which meant-

“Sunbeam.”   
“Kid Twilight,” came her voice, and he dropped his shoulders. He had known it was her. But it was nice to know for sure.

He hopped from the railing and pivoted around. Her blonde hair was yanked into a ponytail but wisps slipped into her face, probably loose from flying over. 

“It seems we’ve picked the same rooftop.” Sunbeam, known as Eliana Luz when she wasn’t in costume, smiled at him.

He couldn’t smile back.

It wasn’t an accident. She was here on purpose; he could tell from her eyes. Her boots looked pretty clean, so she hadn’t been out long, and was probably flying for most of it.   
Was she tired? She was probably tired. She’d  _ said _ she had less energy at night, without the sun. If-

“Hellooooo, Earth to Kid?” Eliana stood beside him with her gloved hand raised and tapping his shoulder. “You alright?”   
“Who sent you after me?”   
She dropped her hand. “No-one sent me. I came on my own.”   
“But?”   
“Doc called. He wanted to know if you were at our house.”   
His mind raced. “How did he sound? Did he mention-?”   
“Sorry, Sherlock, but my uncle answered the phone.”   
“Oh.”   
“Yeah. That’s all I know.”

His fists started to clench before he remembered the throwing stars in his hand. He tucked them away.

“Did you have a fight?”   
“No.” After Christian had told him, Orion hadn’t said anything. Just left. He’d tried not to think anything, either.    
They stood in silence for a minute. 

“Do you want a slushie?”   
“Huh?”   
Orion pointed down and across the street. “A slushie. On me.”   
“Sure!”

Five minutes later they exited the store, a red drink in Kid Twilight’s hand and a blue one in Sunbeam’s. The styrofoam cups advertised the new Flying Duck movie. At this hour, the sidewalk was littered with more trash than people and Eliana suggested they walk. Orion knew she was saving her strength, so he agreed.

They strolled side by side, slurping their drinks until the straws were too loud and they had to throw them away. Eliana walked slightly ahead, and Orion followed her lead without questioning their destination. Probably her house or his. He tried not to care.

“Did you get any new leads on that new North County vigilante?”   
“Hm?” Orion glanced at her, then back away. “No, not yet.” He should’ve been working on that. He  _ would _ have been, except after he’d changed into costume he’d heard Christian talking with Catherine. In their base _. _

Christian and Catherine had gotten engaged last month. It was getting rare to see one without the other at this point, especially since Catherine knew their secret identities. ( _ Not fair, _ by the way! Orion had to figure everything out by himself.) While dating they had been tolerable, but recently they couldn’t seem to go thirty minutes without sharing some PDA. 

Did they really have to be all gross in the base? That was strictly a working area!

He’d ignored them and walked straight over to the computer. 

“Are you going to bring any of this with you?”   
“Maybe a few Twilight stars, in case of an emergency. But I’d like to leave most of it here. I don’t want my work distracting me from more important things.”   
“Things?”   
“Like the light of my life.”   
“Mmm.”

_ Ew! _ Clearly, he wasn’t going to get any work done inside. Orion snatched up a radio and headed for the back door. He was too busy trying not to gag that he didn’t notice the cardboard boxes blocking his way until he nearly tripped over them.

They were huge and sealed with packing tape. The one at eye level wore a label reading  _ Living Room _ .

“Hey, Christian…?”   
He glanced over at Orion, seemingly surprised to see him with the mask on, but he didn’t walk over. “Oh, sorry if they’re in your way. Cap promised to help me move them on Tuesday, and I didn’t want anyone to see us going in and out of our apartment, y’know? You can just push them to the side.”   
They weren’t in Orion’s way; he could easily walk around them. But Christian had missed the point. “Where are you taking them?”   
“Across town, to Apathy Labs. That’s where the portal is.” He turned back to Catherine.

The portal? To where Catherine lived?   
Wait, was he  _ moving?! _

These were boxes filled with Christian’s stuff. He was moving out of their apartment. To be with Catherine.

Christian would rather live with Catherine than Orion. 

Where was Orion going to live? He didn’t have a job- well, not a paying one! He was still in school! He forgot to make his bed half the time!

“Why didn’t you tell me?” His voice had been half a whisper.   
Christian hadn’t answered.   
He’d raised his voice. “Hey, Doc?”  
Christian had turned around, his arm still around his fiance. “Yes?”   
He’d sounded annoyed.   
At Orion.

“Nothing,” Orion had snapped, dropping the radio, and he’d left slamming the door at a volume the couple was sure to hear. He’d half-stumbled through the underground tunnel, his thoughts ricocheting around.

Christian was moving. He hadn’t told Orion. If asked, he’d probably just say he’d forgotten.   
Christian had been forgetting a lot of things recently.

Orion hadn’t wanted to think about that. He’d reached the mouth of the tunnel.   
He’d ran.

He had thrown himself about town until Sunbeam caught up to him. Now they were walking home.   
Was it really his home anymore?

Orion stopped walking and studied their surroundings. They were on Ganymede St., meaning they were in West County. Eliana lived in the center of the city, closer to the Lawful Legion hall where her uncle worked. So they were going to the Observatory. Or at least to Christian’s apartment- his  _ old _ apartment -close by.

“Hey,” Orion said, and Eliana turned around. “Is it okay if I stay the night at your place?”   
Her smile faded slightly, and Orion had a terrifying image of her flying away and leaving him there.   
But she nodded.

At the next intersection, they crossed the street and took a right.    
“If you’re tired,” Orion offered, “I can use my grappling hook and carry you.”   
“If you’re tired,” Eliana countered, “I can fly and carry you.”   
Neither made a move to do either, so the costumed heroes continued on the sidewalk.

It was a thirty-minute walk to the Luz’s apartment. The question was bound to happen.   
“What happened with Christian?”   
He didn’t want to say anything. Half because he hated it, and half because he wasn’t sure. If there was anything he hated more than not knowing, it was admitting that. Still, she was walking across town with him, on a school night no less. She deserved an answer.   
He took a breath.

“He’s not telling me things anymore. He never has time to work on a case or answer a math question. When we're home, he either doesn’t talk, or he’s on his phone, and when we’re patrolling he’s always rushed like he’d rather be home and- I- I don’t get it. What I did wrong.”   
“I doubt you did anything.”   
“But it’s just me! He talks to the Legion as normally as ever, it’s just when he’s at home, he’s- He’s barely home! He’s with Catherine half the time!”   
“Well, they did just get engaged.”   
He screwed up his face. “I know. They won’t let anyone forget.”

They walked for a while, quietly.

Then Eliana gasped and grabbed his arm. “I know what you need!”   
“What?”   
She grinned widely, letting Orion see teeth that were slightly stained from her slushie. “Rebellion.”   
He snorted. “Right, because that’d go well.”   
“No, I’m serious! Just do something small, that won’t hurt anybody. Like a piercing-”   
“No.”   
“Scaredy Cat. Maybe a tattoo.”   
He shoved her, laughing. “No!”   
“Like a temporary one! On your face!” She smirked, then shrugged. “Just giving you options.”

The kept walking, nearly at her apartment complex. Sunbeam was giving him another terribly horrific idea when a sign caught Kid Twilight’s eye. He tapped her, then pointed at it.

“That. That’s what I’ll do.”   
Her eyes widened, and she jumped higher than a human could. “Yes! Perfect!”

They went inside and bought a package, making sure the color didn’t match any of the ones in his costume. And he chose a darker, more subtle shade because he knew better than to stand out in a crowd.

They took the box home, and used it that night, despite the hour.

And that’s how Christian found him the next morning. With his friend. And with a permanent blue streak in his hair.


End file.
